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NOTE: As of 2014, the California Beetle Project page is no longer updated. The original database and list of California beetles in the menu on the left will remain for the time being, but the information contained within is not necessarily current. SBMNH Entomology Curator Matthew L. Gimmel has divided up the function of the original database into two conceptual halves:

  1. The SBMNH Entomology specimen-level database, including all SBMNH beetle specimens included in the CBP database, which is now available (and ever-growing) through the ecdysis portal at https://serv.biokic.asu.edu/ecdysis/

  2. A literature- (and available specimen-)based checklist.
  3. of the Coleoptera of California, which is being revised and re-compiled by Dr. Gimmel, and, as of January 2017, is about 85% complete.




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Last updated 01/16/2009

 California Beetle Project > Species Pages > Bitoma sulcata

Classification

Scientific name: Bitoma sulcata (LeConte)
    Order Coleoptera
    Superfamily Tenebrionoidea
    Family Zopheridae

Images (click to enlarge)

What it looks like: 2.3-3.1 mm in length. Its body is light to dark brown, with the head and pronotum usually being a bit darker than the rest of the body. The last segment (ninth) of its antenna is twice as wide as the eighth.

Where you'll find it: These beetles are common in the deserts from California to Texas and even down into Mexico.

Natural History: They appear in the oak zones in deserts, through lower canyons, and occasionally they will settle down in a packrat's nest.

This page was written by Maren Farnum, a 2005 California Beetle Project intern.




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